Electric cars have been a hot topic in the motoring industry for over a decade. The rate of progress cars in this category have made in terms of development in the last few years alone has been staggering.
Nowadays, there are more new fully-electric cars for British motorists to choose from than ever before but some may question if they’re really a viable option for them. Concerns regarding their range and driveability may still crop up, but it’d be unwise to dismiss new electric cars before considering all the perks which they can offer now and in the near future.
In this guide we highlight five reasons why buying an electric car can prove to be a great investment.
1 – Emissions are never a concern
For one reason or another, there’s been a lot of news stories in recent years centred on what cars are emitting. These stories have sparked plenty of talk from members of the public and people in the motoring industry in regards what needs to be done to reduce CO2, NOX and particulate matter from vehicles.
With electric cars, however, the issue of emissions is completely removed from the equation. Not only is the lack of CO2 and other potentially harmful pollutants beneficial for running costs, it also means that owning one of the top electric cars gives you some peace of mind. You’ll know that your car isn’t adding any harmful pollutants in the air and you’re exempt from congestion charges too.
Even if you’re completely indifferent to the environmental benefits and ignore this point altogether, there are still a few other reasons to explain how buying an electric can prove a very smart move.
2 – They’re free to tax now and will remain so in the future
Because they emit zero CO2, every electric car on sale in Britain comes with free Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), also known as road tax or car tax. While hybrids and certain petrol or diesel-run cars are also currently exempt from paid VED, this will stop being the case in the not-too-distant future.
New cars registered from the start of April 2017 onwards will be governed under new VED tax bands. Under these new bands, only cars that emit zero CO2 will be free for the first year of tax and beyond. So if you fancy owning a car that has free VED but you won’t be buying a new one until next year, then your only option to achieve this will be an electric car (with a list price below £40,000). There are plenty of benefits if you choose to buy an electric car.
3 – Charging is more accessible than you might think
One of the first things likely to come to mind when even considering buying an electric car is how you can realistically keep the battery charged day by day.
But even if there aren’t any accessible public charging stations nearby, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re short on options. Besides, Britain’s network of public charging stations continues to grow and a place near home could emerge in the near future.
Alongside public stations you can also try charging at home or at a public building such as work if there are chargers set up there. When you’re at home you don’t have to just settle with plugging your car into a domestic wall socket as companies can install special charging stations at home, plus there’s a range of chargers, from slow to fast, to choose.
These wildly alter the time you’ll need to take to recharge your electric vehicle. For more information, check out our separate guide to charging your electric car.
4 – It’s easy and cheap to maintain them
While conventional petrol or diesel-run cars and hybrids require a vast number of internal components to function properly, top electric cars are far simpler in comparison.
In fact, electric vehicles are estimated to have ten times fewer moving parts than a petrol-run car. Electric cars are unlikely to break down due to a mechanical failure because they don’t need parts like a tailpipe, clutch, catalytic converter, fuel tank or the vast number of parts found in a combustion engine alone.
If you own an electric car for many years then it won’t be an entirely maintenance free experience but there won’t be that many parts you should have to worry about getting checked and maintained every time you take it for a service. Not much should need replacing over time and expenses like an oil change are out of the picture.
5 – Most of them are fun to drive
The thing about driving the vast majority of electric cars is that you’ll realise that they feel hardly any different to whatever the conventional-engined equivalent is, once you get over the lack of engine noise of course.
Manufacturers nowadays either build new electric cars from the ground up on unique platforms or use one from a popular supermini or family car. In either case, new electric cars offer decent handling or light steering which is good for town driving.
Even if an electric car is not particularly powerful overall, the zero to 30mph sprint tends to be pretty brisk because this type of vehicle delivers all of its torque instantly. This is a really satisfying perk of driving an electric car, and is especially handy if you’re negotiating your way through a city or any heavy traffic situation.
So which electric cars can I buy nowadays?
You can check out our guide to the best electric cars to see which examples on the new car market are definitely worth checking out.
Alternatively, you can jump straight to our reviews page or find prices for current popular examples of electric cars including the Nissan LEAF, Renault ZOE, BMW i3, and Tesla Model S. This may help you decide if you are in the market to buy an electric car.
